Our movie guru runs the rule over Love Again and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in his latest film column.
What was my favourite film of the week? It's All Coming Back To Me Now. I had to Think Twice, but now I'm All By Myself, I've remembered. Love Again is the best frothy rom com I've seen in ages, and I make no apology for the fact I loved it!!
Based on a German film, which was itself based on a book, we witness tragedy unfolding in the first few minutes as Mira Ray (Priyanka Chopra) says goodbye to her boyfriend in a cafe, moments before his life is tragically ended by a drink driver. Fast forward two years, and she is still dealing with the emotional impact of the tragedy.
Lost in her thoughts, she's advised by Mohsen (Omid Djalili) to have a conversation with the late John (Arinze Kene) and tell him about her day. Feeling daft sitting with two glasses of wine and an empty chair, she resorts instead to texting her innermost thoughts to John's old mobile number. Unbeknown to her, the number has been reassigned to a cynical music journalist for his work phone. Rob Burns (Sam Heughan) starts to fall in love with Mira just from the power of her words. I'm sure my columns have a similar effect on many people.
Anyway, so far, so far fetched. Step in Celine Dion as herself, who Rob is writing about for his newspaper, to save the day when things go pear-shaped. Will Rob 'fess up to reading all of Mira's texts before they met in person? And why on earth does she send actual texts rather than using WhatsApp?!
It seems audiences so far have liked this one a lot more than the critics. Nick Jonas has a nice cameo as a random date for Mira, who gets a bit touchy-feely in the back of an Uber, and Celine has even written a new song for the film called...you guessed it...Love Again! It's not exactly taken the American Box Office by storm, in the shadow of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, but I suggest giving it a whirl. You can also see Priyanka Chopra currently in the big budget Amazon series Citadel, incidentally.
Before Fast X opens everywhere this weekend, a word on Marvel's latest...despite saying I was going to swerve it, I thought I'd give it a go in 4DX, and in my third time watching a film in this crazy format, I'd highly recommend it! Just don't take an Americano in. It will go everywhere. The first 90 minutes are a bit of a slog, but the action really ramps up after that. It also tugs at the heartstrings, and is a lovely conclusion to this particular chapter in the Marvel universe.
There's a nice blend of humour and high-octane stuff, and it's an ode to the power of friendship. It didn't, however, need to be two and a half hours long. That criticism aside, well worth a watch on the big screen. The best raccoon since Bert Raccoon in the Evergreen Forest, who faced down Cyril Sneer in the 1980s. If you're young, this reference will be entirely lost. If you're old, you're probably humming the theme tune in your head now.
You can listen to Alex every weekday from 7am to 11am and on Saturdays from 3pm to 6pm, on Tameside Radio 103.6FM.
